Children Media Consumption: 7.5 Hours a Day

23 January 201016 Comments

Do you like this story? Be the first to share with friends! Hit the 'like' button!

Children Consume nearly 8 hours of Media per Day

Kaiser Family Foundation released their most recent media usage study. Six years ago they found the usage of 8 to 18 year old was about 6 hours and 21 minutes of media consumption a day. This recent study shows that the media consumption rate has risen to 7 hours and 38 minutes. That is almost as much time as adults spend at work except remember that adults only work 5 days a week.

The amount of media consumed by children has always been a point of concern as media has been found to have great affects in molding a child’s view of the world. It has become all the more important that parents watch over what their children are consuming and what kind of message they are taking in.

Some things parents can do are to regulate what kind and what type of media their children consume. Another is to watch what your kids are watching together so you can explain how best to process the message it portrays. Another is to ensure internet safety for kids with tools that can supervise online activities.

For the first time, Traditional TV consumption actually fell as other mediums such as video games, music, online media and movie watching has increased. What is even more wild is that kids are often watching multiple forms of media at once. The actual consumption of media was found to be closer to 10 hours and 45 minutes.

Growth of Mobile Media

Greater adoption of iPods and other MP3 devices has increased access and usage of mobile media. Children are able to surf the internet while listening to music and perhaps watching TV all in the same time. In 2004, only 39% of 8 to 18 year olds owned a cell phone. Now it is closer to 66%. Ipods? Jumped from 18% to 76%.

Television Consumption goes Online

TV broadcast consumption fell from 3:04 to 2:39. However TV consumption as a whole has increased by 38 minutes. This increase can be partially attributed to mobile media as kids watch movies and videos on their cell phones, but also a continuous trend towards TV show streams being available online.

Did You Know:

Home Internet Access has grown from 74% to 84%

Youth with Laptops jumped from 12% to 29%

Internet Access from the Bedroom jumped 20% to 33%

71% of all 8 to 18 year olds have their own TV in their rooms.

An Average home with an 8 to 18 year old contains 3.8 TVs, 2.8 DVD/VCR players, 1 digital video recorder, 2.2 CD players, 2.5 radios, 2 computers, and 2.3 console video game players.

Youths who spend more time with media show lower grades and lower levels of personal contentment

Nearly half of all heavy users who consume more than 16 hours of media per day (21% of all 8 to 18 year olds) report having fair or poor grades compared to 23% of light users who show less than three hours of consumption. Unfortunately statistics still support that majority of parents do not engage in much regulation of media consumption.

Did You Know:

7th-12th grader spend 1.5 hours/day TEXTING

Media Usage Statistics Study

This report was based on a national survey of 2,002 3rd to 12th grade students and includes a subsample of 702 respondents who volunteered to complete seven-day media use diaries. This is the third of such reports by Kaiser Family Foundation.

The facts are unsettling but not surprising. Adolescents are being introduced to technology at a much younger age and it is becoming a normal part of their everyday lives. The problem isn’t access to new technology, it is that it goes unchecked. The amount of time kids interacting with media isn’t supervised or limited, a problem when there is so much questionable material out there. Not to mention things like surfing the web and streaming TV shows is so isolating. Virtual interactions are no substitute for interactions in reality.

well as a mother i cant stop kiid from having nice time with their TV as long as they are free with work. But i try as much as possible to be with my kids when they watch movies or TV shows. though i can’t be with them all through the time but the little time i stay with them helps me monitor what they watch. its has also made them know what they should watch or shouldn’t when am not with them

Our Worldview Revealed

Clean Cut Media aims to bring you insightful commentary and meaningful discussions on the impact of media on pop culture. No one would argue that all forms of media from movies to music to advertising has a powerful effect on how we think and what we believe. However it is fascinating to really examine the underlying messages and hidden philosophies behind each story or ad. Posts will vary from examinations into advertising campaigns or philosophies conveyed in a movie, to deeper discussions about life philosophies, discussions about truth and meaning.